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[Powerbits]

 

An M4A3 76w Sherman tank (VVSS) with ‘duck bill’ extended end connectors, and a ‘sandbag job’ typical of the 14th Armored Division “Liberators”. The tank is pulling into Rittershoffen in the Alsace-Lorraine area, France, March 1945. Note the crew is carefully working its way under all the communication wires.

The narrow VVSS tracks limited the Shermans mobility in soft mud, sand, boggy terrain. The Tiger and Panther tanks were better off road than the VVSS Shermans. It’s a good thing they were so rare, and there was a limit to how much mud they could deal with. The mud also accelerated the maintenance problems both these tanks faced and eventually mud got so deep in late ’44 no tank could go off road much until the ground froze.

The Army came up with a field expedient solution called a “duck bill” end connector. It was an end connector with a sheet steel foot welded to it, when bolted in place on the track it added several inches to the tracks width in soft terrain. The only drawback was that they broke off fairly easy, but were also easy enough to replace. This was a very popular and widespread modification, and many little local factories in France were contracted to produce them. They were also factory produced and installed on production Shermans.

Colour: ColourisedPieceofJake
Source: TheShermanTank.com

 

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